Page No 106:

Question 1:

What
‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna
would be suitable for?

Answer:

Maxwell
thought that he would keep an otter instead of a dog. Camusfearna,
ringed by water a very short distance from its door, would be an
eminently suitable spot for the experiment.

Page No 106:

Question 2:

Why
does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?

Answer:

He
went to Basra, to the Consultate-General,
to collect and answer his mail from Europe. There, he found that his
friend’s mail had arrived, but his had not. He sent a message
to England. When nothing happened even after three days, he tried
placing a call to England. On the first day, the line was out of
order; on the second day, the exchange was closed for a religious
holiday. On the third day, there was another breakdown. He arranged
to meet his friend, who had left, in a week’s time. His mail
finally arrived five days later.

Page No 106:

Question 3:

How
does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell
you this.

Answer:

When
he received his mail, he carried it to his bedroom to read. There,
he saw two Arabs and beside them was a sack that twisted from time to
time. They handed him a note from his friend saying that he had sent
him an otter.

Yes,
he liked it. We know this because he uses the term ‘otter
fixation’ to refer to his feeling towards the otter. He felt
that this otter fixation or this strong attachment towards otters was
something that was shared by most other people who had ever owned
one.

Page No 106:

Question 4:

Why
was the otter named ‘Maxwell’s otter’?

Answer:

The
otter was of a race previously unknown to science and was at length
named by zoologists Lutrogale
perspicillata maxwelli or Maxwell’s
otter.

Page No 106:

Question 5:

Tick
the right answer. In the beginning, the otter was

aloof
and indifferent

friendly

hostile

Answer:

In the
beginning, the otter was aloof and indifferent.

Page No 106:

Question 6:

What
happened
when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? What did it do two days
after that?

Answer:

When
Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom, it went wild with joy in the
water for half an hour. It was plunging and rolling in it, shooting
up and down the length of the bathtub underwater, and making enough
slosh and splash for a hippo.

Two days
after that, it escaped from his bedroom to the bathroom. By the time
he got there, Mijbil was up on the end of the bathtub and fumbling at
the chromium taps with its paws. In less than a minute, it had turned
the tap far enough to produce some water and after a moment, achieved
the full flow.

Page No 108:

Question 1:

How was
Mij to be transported to England?

Answer:

Maxwell
booked a flight to Paris and from there he
would go on to London. The airline insisted that Mij should be packed
in a box (not more than eighteen inches square) that was to be placed
on the floor, near his feet.

Page No 108:

Question 2:

What
did Mij do to the box?

Answer:

Maxwell
had put Mij in the box and left for a meal. When he came back, he saw
a horrific spectacle. There was complete silence from the box.
However, from its airholes and chinks around the lid, blood had
trickled and dried. He took off the lock and tore open the lid. Mij,
exhausted and covered with blood, whimpered and caught his leg. It
had torn the lining of the box to shreds. He removed the last of it
so that there were no cutting edges left.

Page No 109:

Question 3:

Why
did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt
when he did this?

Answer:

By
the time Maxwell had removed the last of the lining of the box so
that there were no cutting edges left, it was just ten minutes for
the flight to take off. He had to rush to the airport, which was five
miles away, and that is why he put the miserable otter back into the
box. Like the otter, Maxwell would also
have felt miserable for putting it back in the box, particularly so,
after seeing that the otter disliked being in the box.

Page No 109:

Question 4:

Why
does Maxwell say the airhostess was “the very queen of her
kind”?

Answer:

Maxwell
said that the airhostess was “the very queen of her kind”
because she was extremely friendly and helpful. He took her into his
confidence about the incident with the box.
She suggested that he might prefer to have his pet on his knee.
Hearing this, he developed a profound admiration for her, for she
understood the pain of both the otter and its owner.

Page No 109:

Question 5:

What
happened when the box was opened?

Answer:

When
the box was opened, Mij leapt out of it
immediately. It disappeared very quickly down the aircraft. Several
passengers shrieked. A woman stood up on her seat screaming that
there was a rat. He saw Mij’s tail disappearing beneath the
legs of an Indian passenger. He dived for it, but missed. The
airhostess suggested him to be seated and that she would find the
otter. After a while, Mij had returned to him. It climbed on his knee
and began to rub its nose on his face and neck.

Page No 110:

Question 1:

What game
had Mij invented?

Answer:

Mij
invented a game with a ping-pong ball,
which kept him engrossed for up to half an hour at a time. Maxwell
had a suitcase that had become damaged, such that the lid, when
closed, remained at a slope from one end to the other. Mij discovered
that if the ball was placed on the high end, it would run down the
length of the suitcase. It would dash around to the other end to
surprise the ball. Then, it would grab it and trot off with it to the
high end once more.

Page No 110:

Question 2:

What
are ‘compulsive habits’? What does Maxwell say are the
compulsive habits of

(i) school
children

(ii) Mij?

Answer:

Compulsive
habits are habits that are impossible to
control. According to Maxwell, children on their way to and from
school must place their feet squarely on the centre of each paving
block; they must touch every seventh upright of the iron railings, or
pass to the outside of every second lamp post. Such were the
compulsive habits of children.

Opposite
to Maxwell’s flat, there was a single-storied primary school.
Along its frontage ran a low wall some two feet high. On its way
home, Mij would tug Maxwell to this wall, jump onto it, and gallop
the full length of its thirty yards, distracting both the pupils and
the staff. Such was the compulsive habit of Mij.

Page No 110:

Question 3:

What
group of animals do otters belong to?

Answer:

Otters
belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines,
shared by the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others.

Page No 110:

Question 4:

What
guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?

Answer:

According
to Maxwell, the average Londoner does not
recognize an otter. The Londoners who saw Mij made different guesses
about who Mij was. They guessed, among other things, that it was a
baby seal, a squirrel, a walrus, a hippo, a beaver, a bear cub, a
leopard and a brontosaur.

Page No 111:

Question 4:

Maxwell
in the story speaks for the otter, Mij. He tells us what the otter
feels and thinks on different occasions. Given below are some things
the otter does. Complete the column on the right to say what Maxwell
says about what Mij feels and thinks.

What Mij does

How Mij feels or
thinks

Plunges,
rolls in the water and makes the water splosh and splash

-

Screws the tap in the wrong way

-

Nuzzles Maxwell’s face and
neck in the aeroplane

-

Answer:

What Mij does

How Mij feels or
thinks

Plunges,
rolls in the water and makes the water splosh and splash

went wild with joy

Screws the tap in the wrong way

irritated and disappointed

Nuzzles Maxwell’s face and
neck in the aeroplane

distressed chitter
of recognition and welcome

Page No 111:

Question 5:

Read the
story and find the sentences where Maxwell describes his pet otter.
Then choose and arrange your sentences to illustrate those statements
below that you think are true.

Maxwell’s
description

(i) makes
Mij seem almost human, like a small boy.

(ii) shows
that he is often irritated with what Mij does.

(iii) shows
that he is often surprised by what Mij does.

(iv) of
Mij’s antics is comical.

(v) shows
that he observes the antics of Mij very carefully.

(vi) shows
that he thinks Mij is a very ordinary otter.

(vii) shows
that he thinks the otter is very unusual.

Answer:

(i)He
spent most of his time in play.

(iii)I
watched, amazed; in less than a minute he had turned the tap far
enough to produce a trickle of water, and after a moment or two
achieved the full flow.

(v)A
suitcase that I had taken to Iraq had become damaged on the journey
home, so that the lid, when closed, remained at a slope from one end
to the other. Mij discovered that if he placed the ball on the high
end it would run down the length of the suitcase. He would dash
around to the other end to ambush its arrival, hide from it,
crouching, to spring up and take it by surprise, grab it and trot off
with it to the high end once more.

(vii)It
is not, I suppose, in any way strange that the average Londoner
should not recognize an otter, but the variety of guesses as to what
kind of animal this might be came as a surprise to me. Mij was
anything but an otter.

Page No 111:

Question 1:

From
the table below, make as many correct sentences
as you can using would and/or used to, as appropriate. (Hint:
First decide whether the words in italics show an action, or a state
or situation, in the past.) Then add two or three sentences of your
own to it.

Emperor Akbar

would

used to

be found of musical evenings.

Every evening
we

take long walks on the beach

Fifty years
ago, very few people

own cars.

Till the
1980s, Shanghai

have very dirty streets.

My uncle

spend his holidays by the sea.

Answer:

1.Emperor Akbar used to be fond of
musical evenings.

2.
Every evening we used to take long
walks on the beach.

3.
Fifty years ago, very few people used
to own cars.

4.
Till the 1980s, Shanghai used to have
very dirty streets.

5.
My uncle would spend his holidays by
the sea.

6.
My uncle used to take long walks on the
beach.

7.
My uncle used to be fond of musical
evenings.

Page No 112:

Question 1:

From
the table below, make as many correct sentences
as you can using would and/or used to, as appropriate. (Hint:
First decide whether the words in italics show an action, or a state
or situation, in the past.) Then add two or three sentences of your
own to it.

Emperor Akbar

would

used to

be found of musical evenings.

Every evening
we

take long walks on the beach

Fifty years
ago, very few people

own cars.

Till the
1980s, Shanghai

have very dirty streets.

My uncle

spend his holidays by the sea.

Answer:

1.Emperor Akbar used to be fond of
musical evenings.

2.
Every evening we used to take long
walks on the beach.

3.
Fifty years ago, very few people used
to own cars.

4.
Till the 1980s, Shanghai used to have
very dirty streets.

5.
My uncle would spend his holidays by
the sea.

6.
My uncle used to take long walks on the
beach.

7.
My uncle used to be fond of musical
evenings.

Page No 112:

Question 2:

II. Noun
Modifiers

1. Look at these
examples from the text, and say whether the modifiers (in italics)
are nouns, proper nouns, or adjective plus noun.

(i)

An otter
fixation

(iv)

The London
streets

(ii)

The iron
railings

(v)

softvelvet
fur

(iii)

The Tigris
marshes

(vi)

A four-footed
soccer player

2. Given below are some
nouns, and a set of modifiers (in the box). Combine the nouns and
modifiers to make as many appropriate phrases as you can. (Hint:
The nouns and modifiers are all from the texts in this book.)